THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 11, 1995 TAG: 9511110564
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
The ``little pink church'' on Shepard Street that has become a haven for latchkey kids and a place of hope for neighborhood residents has given way to a bigger brick church two blocks away.
The Hugh Cale Opportunities Industrialization Center has moved to a former Catholic church at 605 South Martin St., still in the heart of the neighborhood that gave rise to the organization in the mid-1980s.
To celebrate, the Hugh Cale center will hold a grand opening ceremony at 11 a.m. today. City and county officials have been invited, and refreshments will be served. Speakers include the Rev. Elija Purkett and a national official from OICs of America.
Center Director Shirley Simpson also has called on men in the surrounding communities to attend the event in a show of support for the young, disadvantaged children whom the Hugh Cale organization reaches out to help.
``We can solicit all young men to please take a part in these young men's lives, because we're losing them,'' Simpson said. ``They need to become involved.
``We all need to come together and start working with some of these kids.''
The Hugh Cale center has set up in the former school of the Catholic complex, which also includes a convent and chapel. The school alone has four or five times the space of the former Presbyterian church where the center started.
``The only difference this building will make is that we will be able to serve and meet more of the needs throughout the communities,'' Simpson said. ``We were serving 54 latchkey kids with a waiting list, and there was no way that we could meet all the needs in the building.''
The latchkey program gives children a place to stay and things to do from the time school lets out to 5:30 p.m. The Hugh Cale center also provides a job-skills program, GED and college prep classes, a Narcotics Anonymous meeting place, a program for juvenile delinquents and certified nursing assistant training.
The center operates on a $110,000 budget, with contributions from such organizations as the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the Governor's Crime Commission and the United Way, Simpson said.
Simpson and Hugh Cale staffers have spent the past three weeks whipping their new home into shape, using a pickup truck to move and doing a lot of the painting and decorating themselves.
``We've had a lot of the community to come in and help,'' Simpson said.
``It has become a community effort to a certain extent.'' by CNB